


Robert And Finn In The Men's At The Woolpack

by theprincessed



Series: Village Talk [2]
Category: Emmerdale
Genre: Awkward Conversations, Gen, M/M, Male Friendship, Past Relationship(s)
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2016-03-14
Updated: 2016-03-14
Packaged: 2018-05-26 14:24:40
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,307
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/6242869
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/theprincessed/pseuds/theprincessed
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Finn bumps into Robert, Aaron interrupts and it brings back a memory from long ago…</p>
            </blockquote>





	Robert And Finn In The Men's At The Woolpack

**Author's Note:**

> Hiya! These things are such a nothing lol, but maybe I can call them character practice??? Or...prooooocrastination. ;)
> 
> This is for [Bouncy](http://archiveofourown.org/users/bouncywild), my favourite cheerleader in this joint. You keep me loving Robron, chicka! <3
> 
> Hope you enjoy x

The door to the men's opens as Robert turns the tap on at the sink, voices inside the pub rising then falling away to a dull murmur again.

“Oh! Hi, er - sorry, ” Finn mutters nervously then, before Robert can say anything, adds, babbling, “Right. Yeah. Of course you'd ignore me. I'll...just be going then. Bye.”

Robert finishes washing his hands and turns around as he's drying them on a paper towel, entirely confused. “Wait. Why would I ignore you?”

Finn blinks wide eyed behind his glasses, full of surprise, as his hand on the main door to the toilets drops back to his side. “Well, y'know. The whole Twitter thing.” When Robert gives him a blank stare, having had a lot on his mind the past week, Finn's mouth twists awkwardly. “ _Gordon_.”

Robert clenches his jaw at the mere name of that sick pervert and has to remind himself not to let it show, to not let him win. A lot of people in here might know part of what he did to Aaron, but Robert has to be strong for Aaron and keep Chas out of more trouble. “And you're sorry because?”

“For saying it was all over Twitter, showing it to Diane an' that. I get that Aaron doesn't want it broadcast to the village, never mind who else.”

Robert nods contemplatively and checks his hands to make sure they're dry before throwing the paper in the bin. It lands in first time and he does a little internal raised arms dance as he looks up at Finn and his lips tilt upwards slightly. “Finn, you've nothing to be sorry about. Unless it was you who put it out there?”

“Me?” he squeaks, shocked, “God, no!”

“Then we have no problem.” he smiles, reminded of what a good guy Finn is. Part of him wishes they'd become proper friends when Vic introduced them over a year ago. He watches him shift from foot to foot, waiting. “Did you come in here just to apologise or - ” He gestures to the loo at large. 

“I thought you'd never ask!” Finn exclaims then seems to catch himself as he stumbles forward. “I mean, you didn't, but I need - ”

He cuts himself off and darts into a stall instead of standing at the urinal, his embarrassment clear and Robert laughs quietly to himself. He could leave now, satisfied that he's put to bed something that had obviously been on Finn's mind, but decides to wait until Finn is finished instead. He can tell by the way he unlocks the door shortly afterwards and hesitates in stepping out of the stall that he's aware that Robert hasn't left but is unsure why.

“Are you...loitering?” he asks, tentative.

Robert wants to make a joke about _cruising_ but pushes the urge away and settles on a smirk because he likes how Finn reacts. He understands why he'd have been interested in Aaron, a brooding flame of volatile intensity, even if the green-eyed monster inside him absolutely hated the thought then and wants to half-heartedly bare its teeth now.

“No,” he grins, “No offence, but you’re not my type.”

“Oh! I didn't, um – _right_.” Finn says, his lips flattened into an unimpressed line when he realises. “You're winding me up. Thanks for that.”

Roberts hums an amused sound and watches him also wash his hands before he leans against part of the sink and folds his arms across his chest, elbow patches on his blazer stretched taut. He tilts his head to the spot beside him and Finn perches next to him. “We should be friends though.”

“I told Vic that ages ago,”

Robert makes a show of frowning. “Well, it was rude of her not to remind me.”

“You've, er, had a lot on your plate, I guess.” he shrugs.

Robert sighs and nudges Finn's shoulder with his, changing the subject. “You still into Death Note?”

“Yeah, y’know we could go and see the new Star Wars though, if you like? Or you could come round and start a new anime with me?”

Robert smiles at how he lights up at the mention of a shared interest and the knowledge that he'd get all his sci-fi references (Aaron not so much, but he's planning on educating him eventually) and is about to reply when the door swings in and the man himself joins them.

“Mate, how long does it take you to take a p – Hiya,” he says abruptly when he sees that Robert's not alone.

Finn pushes his glasses up the bridge of his nose. “Hi. I was just - ”

“This is like being back at school again,” Robert interrupts smugly, a throwback to similar words he'd said at a worse time for him and Aaron, and helplessly amused at how flustered Finn is when he really has no need to be. From the hint of humour in Aaron's eyes, Robert can tell that he knows it's all innocent and feels a flicker of hope in his own self that he still cares enough to notice. 

“And you were the class clown,” Aaron retorts with ease, coming inside properly, but making no move to use anything. He obviously remembers how they had crossed swords in more ways than verbally that December night.

With Finn having jumped up at the sound of the door, Robert stands to his full height now and tries to look more arrogant than he feels these days. He's surprisingly alright with it. “I'll have you know I was the popular one every girl wanted,” he huffs.

Aaron pulls a mocking face. “And you wanted all the boys. Ah, shame.”

“Shut up!” he laughs, keen to get over there and shove him because he's so pleased to hear him at least attempt some of his old snark after the tough time he's had of late. “I could've had everyone if I realised sooner,”

“Here's me thinking your ego had disappeared forever,”

“As if. It's very much part of my appeal,” Robert smirks.

Finn starts edging away from the sink. “I'll – I'll leave you to it,” he says suddenly.

It's the break from his and Aaron's banter that Robert needs to put his attention back on him and he grabs the other man's wrist to stop him. “Hey, gimme your number and we can set something up.”

“Yeah? Okay,” his eyes slide over to Aaron, “I'd invite you as well - ”

Aaron raises his hand. “Carry on, mate. I don't get that stuff,”

Robert glances up at Finn as he rings Finn's phone once so they have each other's numbers, revelling in how he predicted what Aaron's response would be. Finn says goodbye to them, narrowly avoiding also apologising to Aaron, and Robert lets the quiet settle between the two of them before he puts his hands into his pockets.

“Me and Finn are gonna be friends.” he declares proudly, rocking on his heels.

Unlike Finn, Aaron steps up to the urinal unabashedly. “Yeah? Good luck with that, he's Vic's best friend first.” He seems to consider that it sounds like he doesn't want it to happen and hastily adds in practised nonchalant Aaron fashion, “But it's about time you had more people to annoy 24/7.”

Robert's not sure where their tenuous emotional connection is going – probably nowhere when Aaron is in the middle of all this shit – but he still finds an excuse to get close, knocking his shoulder into Aaron's back just as he unzips. “Don't worry, you'll always be my favourite.” he says in his ear as he brushes past.

As Aaron shakes his head, Robert pulls open the door with a smile on his face because he knows that all is not lost. Friends or more, he has a feeling that Aaron's going to need him in the coming weeks more than ever before.

**Author's Note:**

> Thanks for reading, lovelies x
> 
> I'm on tumblr at [theprincessed](http://www.theprincessed.tumblr.com). Come chat to me. :)


End file.
